Richard Heidrich

Richard Heidrich (27 July 1896-22 December 1947) was a General der Fallschirmtruppe of the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Biography
Richard Heidrich was born on 27 July 1896 in Lawalde in the Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire (present-day Germany). He volunteered for military service during World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Heidrich served in the Reichswehr during the Interwar Years and served in a number of posts in the infantry, but in 1938 he became the commander of a parachute battalion which he had formed while a Major in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht. He commanded the German 514th Infantry Regiment during the Battle of France in 1940 in the second year of World War II. He later fought in the Battle of Crete and the Eastern Front in 1941, and he was dispatched with the German 1st Parachute Division to Sicily in July 1943 to counter the Allied invasion of Italy. Heidrich defended the Primosole Bridge and their toughest fighting came in central Italy at the Battle of Monte Cassino. Later made commander of the German 1st Parachute Corps, Heidrich retreated up Italy for the rest of the war and was captured by the United States on 2 May 1945. He was handed over to the United Kingdom and died in Hamburg-Bergedorf in 1947 at the age of 51.